AmericanaFest 2026: A Field Guide to Our Favorite Shows

AmericanaFest can be intimidating to navigate with so many shows at so many venues spread over nearly a week. To help you make a game plan, here are our picks for can’t-miss happenings throughout the festival.

Before you immerse yourself, it’s a good idea to download the official AmericanaFest app, which includes the most up-to-date scheduling information. This information lives on the AmericanaFest website too. On the schedule, you can see when (starting 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15) and where (depending on the day and time, City Winery or Embassy Suites by Hilton Downtown Nashville) to pick up your credentials. By the time you read this you’ve likely purchased your wristband already, but at the time of writing they were still available via the website, which lays out all the details about passes. 

The short version: The standard Festival Wristband gets you general-admission, first-come-first-served access to the majority of shows, and ones that require a different credential or a separate ticket are clearly noted. A few events are also free and open to the public, with no pass at all required. If you’d like to attend panel discussions, you’ll need a Silver Wristband (or add on one or more Conference Day Passes to your Festival band), and for a heap of extras there’s a Gold Circle Pass.

The party gets started right away on Tuesday. Bobby’s Idle Hour hosts Adam Chaffins’ Idle Happy Hour (4 p.m.), featuring the top-notch rising country singer and pals in and around the genre including Brit Taylor and Dee White. The National Museum of African American Music, aka NMAAM, hosts events throughout the week starting with a kickoff party called Shared Roots (4 p.m.) that includes a set from musical polymath Kenny Sharp. Legendary performers abound this day, including the Judy Collins & Friends showcase at City Winery (7 p.m.), Kathleen Edwards at The Chloe (8:30 p.m.) and Melissa Etheridge at 3rd and Lindsley (10 p.m., atop a fantastic bill that also includes Maggie Rose, Amy Grant and Aubrie Sellers). If that’s not enough, there’s a separately ticketed special event at the Schermerhorn (7:30 p.m.) called The Fiddle and the Drum, a collaboration between revered soprano Renée Fleming and banjo maestro Béla Fleck with his ace band My Bluegrass Heart (including mandolin queen Sierra Hull).

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Meels Charms a Sold-Out Station Inn With ‘Critter Country’

Phoebe Sanders and her cast of puppets bring added joy to the proceedings

Wednesday, Sept. 16, gets going early for those interested in panels. There are some great ones on the books including Nashville Public Radio senior music writer Jewly Hight moderating a talk called Lean In With Amy Grant: Creating Conversation Through Songwriting (10 a.m in Embassy Suites Meadow A&B) and Leslie Fram speaking with Black Opry’s Tanner Davenport and others in a talk called Whose Roots? Expanding the Americana Music Narrative (10 a.m. in Embassy Suites Riverbed C&D). Brandi Carlile, who counts Sir Elton John as a supporter and mentor, and Bernie Taupin, John’s longtime writing partner, will have the Keynote Conversation (noon in Embassy Suites Meadow A&B).

And the music gets kicking plenty early too: At noon, you can choose between shows like the AmericanaFest Day Stage, bringing Grace Potter, Meels and others to Eastside Bowl, and the Sun Label Group Day Party at American Legion Post 82 with Nicole Atkins, Ruthie Foster and more. The keystone event of the whole festival is the Americana Music Honors and Awards show, 6:30 p.m. at the Ryman. Separately ticketed, it includes Lifetime Achievement Awards for Robert Plant and the late, great Dolly Parton, presentation of awards in the annual member-voted categories and a killer house band backing up performances from Brandi Carlile, Molly Tuttle, Mon Rovîa, Margo Price and many, many more. There are loads of other official nighttime shows, including bluegrass great Bronwyn (9 p.m. at The 5 Spot), rising roots ace Sabine McCalla (8 p.m. at 3rd and Lindsley) and “singing professor of country and Western” Joshua Hedley (8 p.m. at Skinny Dennis). And here’s your annual reminder that all kinds of cool unofficial events are likely to pop up — like the Second Annual Americana Outsiders Party, 7:30 p.m. at Vinyl Tap, with Chris Gantry and several others — so keep your eyes peeled.

Hope you’re pacing yourself, because Thursday, Sept. 17, is jam-packed too. From Classroom to Community: Who’s Building the Next Generation of Americana? is one standout panel, featuring educators from TSU, MTSU and Belmont University as well as the Country Music Association’s Liliana Manyara (10:30 a.m. in Embassy Suites Riverbed A&B). Music gets rolling quickly as well, with the Queer Roots party returning to The Lipstick Lounge starting at noon and featuring greats like She Returns From War (read more in our interview with her in this issue), Jaime Wyatt, Melody Walker and Denitia. As evening comes on, you may want to seek out rocking soul from Billy Allen and the Pollies (7 p.m. at Exit/In) or Dualtone Records’ 25th Anniversary shindig, with Langhorne Slim, Shakey Graves and others (7 p.m. at The Basement East). 

Phenomenal vocal trio Rainbow Girls headlines The East Room (10 p.m.) while The Blue Room at Third Man Records hosts thoughtful roots-oriented rock from Madison Cunningham (8 p.m.), Hiss Golden Messenger (10 p.m.) and more. If the country-rock side is what calls to you, Skinny Dennis has your answer on Thursday with Emily Nenni (8 p.m.), Teddy and the Rough Riders (10 p.m.) and more.

There’s no slowing down on Friday, Sept. 18. One among several intriguing panels: NPR Music’s Ann Powers leads a discussion called The Body Electric: Women of Americana on the Alchemy of Instrument and Song with Valerie June, Mary Bragg and more (10:30 a.m. at InDo Nashville). And there’s music as early as 11:30 a.m., when the Bluegrass Day Stage kicks off at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, with artists including stellar picker and Bluegrass Women project leader Lindsay Lou.

Both of the artists interviewed in our cover package perform on Friday. Brennan Wedl plays The Blue Room at 7 p.m., alongside greats like Katie Pruitt (playing at 10 p.m., Pruitt is also celebrating her new album Fools for the Fleeting). Meanwhile, you have a second chance to see She Returns From War, at Centennial Park at 6:25 p.m. as part of free concert series Musicians Corner’s annual AmericanaFest partnership. It’s also release day for Nicole Atkins’ latest LP Drama, and you’ve got your second chance of the week to see her (10 p.m. at Analog at Hutton Hotel). There’s a stout lineup of songsmiths at 3rd and Lindsley including the legendary Jim Lauderdale (8 p.m.), Courtney Marie Andrews (9 p.m.) and Nick Shoulders (11 p.m.). On the heels of his knockout newest album Get Over It, Underdog, Aaron Lee Tasjan tops a rocking bill at Exit/In (11 p.m.) that also includes Morgan Wade (10 p.m.), while rocking folk-pop champ Jeremy Ivey gets the night started at The 5 Spot (7 p.m.). Uganda-born, Dallas-residing singer-songwriter Bolton Serunjogi (10 p.m.) is just one highlight of a lineup at the Station Inn that’s topped by banjo wiz Kyle Tuttle’s band featuring fiddle king Darol Anger (11 p.m.).

If you’ve got one more day of festing in you, Saturday, Sept. 19, has plenty to offer. Elizabeth Cook and many more are slated for the 14th Annual Thirty Tigers Gospel Brunch (11 a.m. at City Winery), while Western swing rounders Eddie Slide and His Cowtown Dozen host a hootenanny that includes the great Chuck Mead at The Basement East (2 p.m.; free and open to the public, but space is limited and an RSVP is required via The Basement East website).

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Finding Joy: Joy Oladokun Isn’t Afraid to Speak Out

After parting ways with her label, the Americana artist powers on — and will headline the Ryman March 27

A week before the release of her new record Hope Is a Heavy Thing, champion folk-pop songsmith Joy Oladokun will join in a talk and performance at NMAAM called Joy Oladokun: Music, Story & Legacy (2 p.m.). Acme Feed & Seed’s Acme Fam Jam kicks off at 3 p.m. with the likes of Tristen, Joelton Mayfield and the delightfully named Big Guy and the Very Large Men. As night falls, great songsmiths will head to the Station Inn, including Ashley Monroe (8 p.m.) and Erin Enderlin (9 p.m.), and heroes will head to 3rd and Lindsey, like Buddy Miller, fresh off his self-titled album and first solo release since 2011 (9 p.m.) and Miko Marks (10 p.m.). 

At 11 p.m., Julia Barfield tops a helluva lineup at The Basement East that also includes Parker Millsap (10 p.m.) and Lilly Hiatt (9 p.m.); at some point in the evening you can also catch Barfield at Fran’s Eastside during an unofficial rager called the Ripper Convention. And over at The Blue Room, performances from Nathan Evans Fox (8 p.m.), Swamp Dogg (10 p.m.) and The Sways (11 p.m.) offer a great exclamation point to end your AmericanaFest on.

AmericanaFest Preview 2026

Talking with rising star Brennan Wedl, running down our favorite shows and more to gear up for the festival